It's certainly not a great thing for the program, but I don't think it would be catastrophic. Bennett and Crockett have looked like capable running backs; Shell wasn't a Chryst recruit, so I don't expect it to have much of an impact on recruiting (the situation can easily be explained); and if any of the rumors of grade issues, attitude problems, work ethic problems, wants everything handed to him, butting heads with coaches who are trying to make him grow up instead of being an entitled punk, etc. are true, then peace out jagoff. Maybe I'm a bit old school with my line of thinking, but I just don't feel like any player is bigger than the program, regardless of their talent level. If Shell is unhappy with his situation at Pitt because the coaches are making him work for and earn his playing time, well then good riddance.

I don't really care. He's pretty much gone in a year no matter what. From the tweets that he sends, he is all about money and getting to the NFL, which I mean all 4-5 star recruits think about that somewhat but you had once decent season on a 6-7 team so don't put the cart before the horse. I think in the long run Pitt is better off.

Sam's Drunk Dog wrote:If grades are an issue how would transferring to USC or UCLA help?

Where's it being reported that its grades?

Stoosh wrote:Per Peak's twitter feed, it's confirmed that he's looking into a transfer, but he has not requested a release. Vague on details, but apparently some of this involves academics and playing time issues (not keen on possibly having to share carries, I guess?).

It definitely doesn't make Pitt better next season, but I fail to see how this looks terrible or is disasterous from a recruiting standpoint.

Prospective recruit asks Chryst about the Shell transfer, "He wasn't my recruit, he was promised things by the prior coaching staff that I didn't agree with, he didn't want to put in the work to earn his playing time, and that ultimately prevented him from being the type of young man that we see as "Pitt material", but you are that type of young man, so here's what we see in your future if you decide to become a Pitt Panther..."

Boom, over. I highly doubt this is an issue for the majority of prospective recruits. Players transfer all the time. If recruits were worried about why someone was transferring out of a program, no one would commit anywhere. Results on the field are what matter most when luring big time recruits. Shell is about to disappear like a fart in the wind and likely will end up buried on some other program's depth chart. If this has any affect on recruiting, hopefully it gets Shai McKenzie's mouth watering about playing time as a freshman.

Dickie Dunn wrote:It definitely doesn't make Pitt better next season, but I fail to see how this looks terrible or is disasterous from a recruiting standpoint.

Prospective recruit asks Chryst about the Shell transfer, "He wasn't my recruit, he was promised things by the prior coaching staff that I didn't agree with, he didn't want to put in the work to earn his playing time, and that ultimately prevented him from being the type of young man that we see as "Pitt material", but you are that type of young man, so here's what we see in your future if you decide to become a Pitt Panther..."

Boom, over. I highly doubt this is an issue for the majority of prospective recruits. Players transfer all the time. If recruits were worried about why someone was transferring out of a program, no one would commit anywhere. Results on the field are what matter most when luring big time recruits. Shell is about to disappear like a fart in the wind and likely will end up buried on some other program's depth chart. If this has any affect on recruiting, hopefully it gets Shai McKenzie's mouth watering about playing time as a freshman.

Trashing prior players who transferred isn't what I'd want to hear from a coach.

Dickie Dunn wrote:It definitely doesn't make Pitt better next season, but I fail to see how this looks terrible or is disasterous from a recruiting standpoint.

Prospective recruit asks Chryst about the Shell transfer, "He wasn't my recruit, he was promised things by the prior coaching staff that I didn't agree with, he didn't want to put in the work to earn his playing time, and that ultimately prevented him from being the type of young man that we see as "Pitt material", but you are that type of young man, so here's what we see in your future if you decide to become a Pitt Panther..."

Boom, over. I highly doubt this is an issue for the majority of prospective recruits. Players transfer all the time. If recruits were worried about why someone was transferring out of a program, no one would commit anywhere. Results on the field are what matter most when luring big time recruits. Shell is about to disappear like a fart in the wind and likely will end up buried on some other program's depth chart. If this has any affect on recruiting, hopefully it gets Shai McKenzie's mouth watering about playing time as a freshman.

Trashing prior players who transferred isn't what I'd want to hear from a coach.

That's a far cry from trashing. Saying he was a lazy POS who didn't feel like practicing, milked injuries to get out of training, and was a cancerous malcontent and the program is better off without him, that's trashing a former player. My example was explaining the situation while highlighting what the coaching staff expects from its players. "He didn't want to do this stuff, but we know that you can." You deflect the question while pumping up the attributes of the recruit you're talking to.

Dickie Dunn wrote:It definitely doesn't make Pitt better next season, but I fail to see how this looks terrible or is disasterous from a recruiting standpoint.

Prospective recruit asks Chryst about the Shell transfer, "He wasn't my recruit, he was promised things by the prior coaching staff that I didn't agree with, he didn't want to put in the work to earn his playing time, and that ultimately prevented him from being the type of young man that we see as "Pitt material", but you are that type of young man, so here's what we see in your future if you decide to become a Pitt Panther..."

Boom, over. I highly doubt this is an issue for the majority of prospective recruits. Players transfer all the time. If recruits were worried about why someone was transferring out of a program, no one would commit anywhere. Results on the field are what matter most when luring big time recruits. Shell is about to disappear like a fart in the wind and likely will end up buried on some other program's depth chart. If this has any affect on recruiting, hopefully it gets Shai McKenzie's mouth watering about playing time as a freshman.

Trashing prior players who transferred isn't what I'd want to hear from a coach.

That's a far cry from trashing. Saying he was a lazy POS who didn't feel like practicing, milked injuries to get out of training, and was a cancerous malcontent and the program is better off without him, that's trashing a former player. My example was explaining the situation while highlighting what the coaching staff expects from its players. "He didn't want to do this stuff, but we know that you can." You deflect the question while pumping up the attributes of the recruit you're talking to.

I'm far from a recruiting expert, but Id' just say "He wasn't my recruit, he was promised things by the prior coaching staff that I didn't agree with" and end it